What began as a drizzle got heavier and heavier as the Kolkata Knight Riders-Punjab Kings game at Eden Gardens on Monday was abandoned due to heavy rain and wet outfield after only 3.4 overs of play.
The decision to call off the game came at 10.58pm.
The Knights, though, would not be too disappointed going away with a point as they were in trouble again, losing Finn Allen and Cameron Green to Xavier Bartlett’s outswinger to be wobbling at 25/2.
Had the game progressed, there was every possibility of the Knight Riders leaving both principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, who entered the Eden just as rain forced the players off the field, and injured pacer Harshit Rana — here to cheer the side and spend a day with the KKR family — disappointed, given how scratchy they looked in those 3.4 overs.
For a team under pressure after losing two of their matches so far, the Knight Riders’ decision to bat first on a pitch that was under covers over the last two days was certainly baffling. Captain Ajinkya Rahane said at the toss that the pitch was on the “drier side,” which prompted the Knights to bat first.
Now, if the surface was drier than the one used last Thursday against Sunrisers Hyderabad, what exactly was the reason to bench spin duo Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy? If poor performance was the reason, that could still have been justifiable. But according to skipper Rahane, Varun was carrying “an injury”, while Narine was “unwell,” with pacer Navdeep Saini and Rovman Powell coming in as replacements.
This was the first time
in seven years that both spinners weren’t a part of the Knights’ XI.
Surprisingly, Rahane’s comments came after Narine was seen bowling when the Knights warmed up before the toss. Varun, too, had bowled during Sunday’s practice at the Cricket Association of Bengal’s indoor facilities. He was at the ground, too,
on Monday.
